


Bruised and Battered

by silvermoongirl10



Series: Danger Around Every Corner [2]
Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Concerned David, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Colby, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:37:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermoongirl10/pseuds/silvermoongirl10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following on from Colby being swept away by the water at the dam in 4.07, what happened when David came to see his injured friend?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bruised and Battered

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot is post the episode Primacy 4.07.

The case was over and everyone had come out unharmed, well mostly everyone. Colby was sat on his couch watching whatever was on T.V but wasn't really watching it; every time he closed his eyes he felt the power of the water hitting him. His eyes snapped open at a knocking at his door.

He slowly rose from the couch wincing as his sore muscles protested him moving, he was obviously moving too slow for the person at his door as the knocking became banging which only aggravated his headache.

"Alright I'm coming!" yelled Colby, the banging stopped and Colby breathed a sigh of relief as his headache returned to a dull ache. He opened the door to find David standing in the doorway and saw David's mouth drop into an 'O' shape.

"Jeez Colby you look terrible"

"Thanks. That's just great, you come here to just insult me?"

David shook his head as Colby allowed him to enter the apartment "no I came to make sure you were alright"

"Wait how did you find out I was hurt?" asked Colby as he shut the door and slowly shuffled to the couch were he lowered himself into a sitting position slowly, but still ended up pulling on his sore muscles.

"Well not from you, Don called me to say that maybe I should check in on you because he guessed you would do something that could hurt yourself more"

"Hey! I'm insulted that you and Don would assume I would do that!" at David's pointed look Colby added "well today anyway I'm too sore even to answer the door without feeling like I couldn't move"

David sat next to Colby and looked him squarely in the eye, "are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, just like I said, I'm just sore" Colby leaned back into the couch his eyes open to half slits, he snapped his eyes open and exclaimed "sorry I didn't offer you a drink!" he made to stand but David stopped him.

"I'm fine don't worry" David removed his hand from Colby's shoulder only when Colby relaxed. They watched the T.V in silence, David got lost in his own thoughts, back to when he got the phone call from Don. He had taken some holiday to rest and felt that his trouble magnet of a partner could last four days, well he was proved wrong.

_David was relaxing looking out his window overlooking the park across the street when he heard his cell phone ring and knowing that he was off work until the next day he happily answered thinking that maybe Colby wanted to meet up for a beer, but saw the caller ID was Don._

" _Hey Don"_

" _Hi David" David could hear the hesitation in Don's voice._

" _Don what's wrong?" demanded David,_

" _Well…er…"_

" _Don is it Colby?" asked David as he gripped his cell phone, something happening to Colby was the only thing he could think of that would make Don sound like this when calling him. "It's Colby isn't it?"_

" _Yeah" sighed Don,_

" _What hospital?"_

" _Oh no he's not in a hospital!" reassured Don hastily,_

" _Well what's wrong then?"_

" _Well he's still injured, just not in the hospital"_

" _What's wrong with him?"_

" _He, Charlie and Amita went to the dam and it was a setup made by our suspect and the water got released and…Colby got swept away"_

" _WHAT?! Is he ok? Why isn't he in the hospital? How is he even alive?!" exclaimed David in shock, in his shock his eyes darted around his apartment and landed on a photo of him and Colby smiling leaning against their FBI issued car and he just prayed his best friend was in one piece._

" _He somehow managed to grab onto this industrial wire that was hanging from a bridge and Charlie managed to haul him up onto the bridge. He got some stiches on his head and bumps and bruises and probably really sore muscles after helping to catch our suspect"_

" _He at home?" asked David as he calmed his heartbeat down knowing that Colby was fine,_

" _Yeah, but you know him"_

" _Yep he will probably insist he's fine and do something to hurt himself"_

" _Well I'm giving him and you tomorrow off so you can make sure he doesn't do anything stupid"_

" _But I have to be back in work tomorrow!"_

" _Think I lost that paperwork"_

" _But Don!-"_

" _What?...sorry David you're breaking up!..." David was then met with the dial tone; Don had just hung up on him._

_Well at least he had gained an extra day off, but at the expense of Colby getting hurt. Seriously David was sure that in the last four months the younger Agent (a.k.a trouble magnet Colby Granger) had cut his life short by ten years. David shook his head and left his apartment to go check on Colby and see for himself how Colby was as he knew calling him would only have the outcome of Colby telling him he was fine when really he probably needed someone to help him move._

"Hey David you in there?!" asked Colby as he nudged David and waved a hand in front of David's face,

"Huh, what?" David replied pushing Colby's hand away from his face, but seeing the bandage wrapped around it only made him wince. Colby knew what he was thinking.

"It doesn't hurt that much"

"I swear you are determined to cut my life short!"

"Should have picked another job then"

"Well when I joined the FBI I didn't think I would be partnered up with someone like you"

"Someone like me?"

"Yeah, a trouble magnet"

"Seriously I'm beginning to think you only came here to insult me"

"It's my way of showing how I care, seeing as you get hurt enough it's my way of judging how hurt you really are"

Colby laughed, "Yeah? So Doctor Sinclair how hurt am I?"

David smiled, "I'd say that you're not seriously hurt. Though I don't know how after what happened. But I say you need to have some rest and take tomorrow off"

"Now hang on!-"

"Nah! I'm not listening to whatever argument you try to come up with because you're still taking tomorrow off work and Don also says that. He also said I got tomorrow off to make sure you don't do anything that could hurt you more"

"I don't need to be babysat!" protested Colby,

"Well I can't seem to leave you alone for _four_ , no wait you got hurt yesterday, so I can't leave you alone for _three days_! Colby, three. Days!"

"Ok whatever. And as you pointed out I got hurt yesterday and I survived the night so you don't need to babysit me!"

"I wouldn't call it babysitting"

"What would you call it then?"

"Colby sitting"

"Gee thanks"

"No problem" smirked David.

Colby sighed and knew there was nothing he could say that would get David to leave, so they continued to watch the T.V until David said "alright I've had enough with this stupid programme! What even made you _watch_ it?!"

"Hey I like it as much as you do! Which means I _don't_ like it! There was nothing else on; this channel offered the better choice"

"The _better choice_ you have got to be _joking_!"

"Well if you don't believe me look for yourself!" argued Colby indignantly as he handed David the remote.

After five minutes of looking at the other channels David turned back to Colby and muttered "you were right. Sorry"

"I'll forgive you if put a DVD on and I'll even let you pick which one" smiled Colby,

"Why didn't you put one on earlier?!" exclaimed David as he walked over to the cupboard Colby kept all his DVD's,

"Because it hurts to move, I mean since I've got home the only times I moved was to sit on the couch or the open the door for you"

David spun around to look at Colby, "so you're saying you also haven't had anything to eat or drink?"

"Er…well I wouldn't put it like that" stuttered Colby,

David stood up to his full height glaring down at his best friend on the couch "I'll take that as a no then" Colby opened his mouth to reply but David held up a hand and said "I know what you're like and I'm going to get you something to eat and drink. No arguments!" David put the DVD on and then made his way into the kitchen, he made a cheese sandwiches for Colby and himself, put them on the coffee table next to the couch and then got a bottle of beer for himself and a glass of water for Colby.

"Hey! How come you're drinking _my_ beer and yet I have a glass of _water_?" protested Colby as he was handed his sandwich and his water was placed on the table,

"Because I need a beer and you can't have one because of your painkillers" replied David settling down to watch the movie.

"I don't have any painkillers to take" replied Colby,

"Uh huh, yeah I don't think so. I saw them on your kitchen counter so once you've had your sandwich you are going to take them" ordered David,

Colby sighed in frustration, he _knew_ he should have hidden the painkillers in case anyone came over to see him, but the desire to sit down was too much and he didn't plan on David coming over so fast. He was going to have to tell Don that he could only call David when he said he could, because Colby knew David would come over and not leave until he had assured himself that Colby would be fine.

After finishing their sandwiches David paused the movie and went to get Colby's painkillers, Colby slowly reached over for his glass of water and went to take a sip, but stopped. Seeing the water slosh around in the glass made Colby's heart start pounding and his stomach feel like it had twisted itself, he looked down into the glass and remembered looking in horror as the wall of water rushed towards him. He shook himself, how could he be worried about drinking some water? So he made himself drink some of the water, but his throat constricted and he remembered how he had swallowed some of the dam water. He spluttered as he tried to stop himself from choking. The next thing he knew the glass of water was taken from his shaking hand and David patted him on the back, when his coughing subsided Colby put his head in his hands.

"You ok Colby?" asked David, as he knelt in front of Colby trying to catch Colby's gaze, but Colby continued to look at the floor, "Colby?"

"Yeah?" murmured Colby.

"What happened?"

"I got scared drinking a glass of water, that's what" snapped Colby, David knew Colby wasn't angry at him, he was angry at himself.

"It's ok-"

"No it's not! Nobody gets scared drinking water!" snapped Colby looking up at David.

"Colby" sighed David, "you went through a traumatic experience that involved water, of course you're going to be nervous about water. It'll help when you talk about what happened"

Colby sighed, but knew David was right so told him what happened. "Then I heard this alarm go off and yelled at Charlie and Amita to get back up the ladder, I was halfway up the ladder when the water hit me and dragged me away" Colby paused remembering the helpless feeling that had first overwhelmed him before using a lot of his energy to pull himself to the surface, "then I managed to pull myself to the surface and happened to see this industrial wire cable thing handing from a bridge so I grabbed onto that, and then Charlie and Amita came running over and got me onto the bridge"

Silently David took the glass of water and handed it back to Colby, Colby took it and tried to drink from it again, fortunately this time without his throat constricting and he managed to take his painkillers.

"This is going to make having a shower in the morning interesting" muttered Colby,

"Come on" said David as helped Colby stand up and he led Colby into the bathroom and turned the shower on.

"Uh David…what are you doing?"

"Put your elbow under the water"

"What?!"

"Well I would say put your hand under but you can't get your bandage wet so put your elbow under."

Colby shook his head but went towards the shower anyway, but once he reached it he froze, the sound of the shower became the sound of the roaring wall of water. Colby tried to back way but David was behind him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok Colby just put your elbow under" said David as he rolled up Colby's sleeve and gently pushed Colby forward.

Colby shakily raised his arm and bent it, and placed it under the flow of water, he flinched and went to pull his arm away but David stopped him and began telling him random jokes and soon Colby's mind was taken away from the water falling on his arm. When David turned the shower off Colby looked at him and said with a smile "thanks David"

"You'd do the same" and they returned to the couch and continued to watch the movie, David drinking his beer and Colby drinking his water.


End file.
